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Monday, 2 December 2013

Generations IDW Autobot Skids - Pictorial Review

Glad to see how the new Generations take on a more obsecure characters, not only the frontliner. Now, it's time for Skids!

No, not THIS retarded abomination! Don't get me wrong, I like the movie franchise, enjoyed every one of them. But THIS here tainted the name of Skids soooo much that I think it's one of the reason Hasbro decided to fix that

Now, THIS is Skids!

Not initially seen in the initial Autobots crew that crashed landed on earth, Skids first appear in episode 45, Quest for Survival and the second (and last), episode 50, Triple Takeover. Skids is usually 'absent' where he spend most of his time inside his on head but one of the best theoretician onboard.

Initially part of the Diaclone toy line, Skids transform into a Honda City Turbo in blue while there are also red and black color scheme

In Package

Presenting, Generations IDW Skids. First and foremost, am just a tinsy bit disappointed with his shades of blue, would be happier if it's darker

Back View

His artwork is perfect, I must say. With the aesthetic and his weaponry, he somehow resembles a 'young' Ultra Magnus, LOL

The best part of Skid's comic, the arrival of Thunderclash. Seriously, HasTak needs to release him before 3rd Parties do

Alt Mode

When it was first revealed, many express their dissatisfaction with the alt mode which they claimed to be resembling TF:Prime Rumble (in a bad sort of way)

In hand however, it's whole different story. The alt mode is compact, not so cartoonish like TF:Prime Rumble. However the light blue plastic does make the toy a looks bit off. Still, I think this will also be fixed with his United release later

His paint app is a bit minimal, roughly like RTS Jazz, with the addition of tail light and rims.

His guns can be pegged to his side, obviously a trend for Transformers release right now. Not my cup of tea though

Size wise, Skids is pretty decent, unlike other newer releases like Hoist, Orion Pax and Megatron. Seems to me like HasTak will follow this size (roughly) for figures that have car as their alt mode

Optimus Prime : I hate you in ROTF, Skids

Robot Mode

Generations Skids with robot mode largely based on Alex Milne's design for IDW's More than Meets the Eye Comic. Considerably nice but still, the face is a bit off to me

It might just be me but his face is too 'humanoid' for my taste. But still, the detailing of the face is really great

Back View

The door wings, homaging his G1 incarnation

Not focusing much on the head sculpt, Skids is a really nice figure with awesome design

Arm Blaster, homagin his G1 incarnation

This design however, do have flaws. Skids, in his original configuration, has a hard time standing up. This might be due to the absence of heels. To fix this, push down the knee guards (compared the before this with his configuration right out of the packaging)

Another is that, Skids is also deprived of (the right) ankle tilts. His feets however can be tilted outward due to his transformations

This however is not expected! Due to the excess plastic on his thigh, Skids can't move his leg forward and this really is a let down for the figure

Another limitation is on his hands. The shoulders has a bit of limited range of movement (worsen in weapon mode) and he doesn't have swivel joint on his upper arms and wrists

Due to the flaws above, Skids hand can't really pose and he can't stand flat-footed

However, Skids can still be consider a stable figure and his joints are pretty tight

Skids battle mode! Skids has 3 important gimmick, one being the hidden missiles/bombs at his shoulder and a fold-up shoulder cannons like Universe Prowl (but spring-loaded). Last is the twin blasters under each of his hand that can be folded to the side of his hands

Nice gimmick!

His gun and his (liquid nitrogen) rifle can be combined into a large rifle (shown on his comic's cover)

As much as I like his design, he's kind of disappointing. With a great concept, Hasbro could've bring him back to the drawing board and work a little longer on resolving his design flaws before releasing him